Re: file systems

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 11:45, prad <prad@towardsfreedom.com> wrote:
> we are thinking of redoing our existing servers and workstations in
> june. our servers is low volume and run out of our home via cable.
>
> right now the servers are running freebsd and our personal machines use
> arch linux, but we'd like to unify everything onto debian because
> a) we've liked it in the past
> b) we like the social contract
> c) we appreciate the no-nonsense attitude about 'free'
>
> we are contemplating the fs to use:
> ext4 (which we've used for a couple of years)
> zfs (we've heard this is really good)
> btrfs (ditto - though it's still 'new' and 'lacking' features)
>
> are there any feelings or recommendations regarding the above?

ext3/4, are probably your safest bet if you want reliability.

JFS or XFS if you need something a little faster then ext3, 'ware to operator, JFX/XFS comes with there own risks (especially in power-loss situations).

btrfs[1] can't seem to get away from being extremely experimental

ZFS[2] isn't a practical choice unless you intend on running (Free/Open/Net)BSD or (Open)Solaris. Also consider that there are hardware concerns with ZFS. Chiefly, lots of ram (+4GB minimum) and CPU cycles (~+2GHz). ZFS is also known to be slow/unreliable on x86 machines so an x64 machine is probably warranted as well. If you are still curious, you can search the FreeBSD mailing list, there is constant chatter about it as *that* port is actively refined for production use in the *BSD environment.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Btrfs

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS

-- 


> A: Yes.
> >Q: Are you sure?
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> >>>Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?